Vanderlei de Lima
|gender = Male |born = August 11, 1969 |pob = Cruzeiro do Oeste, PR, Brazil }}Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima (born 11 August 1969 in Cruzeiro do Oeste, Paraná, Brazil) is a former long-distance runner who specialised in marathons. He received international renown after a spectator, a former Irish priest Cornelius "Neil" Horan, attacked him at the 2004 Summer Olympics marathon while he was leading the race at 35 km. Following the incident he fell back from first to third place, winning the bronze medal. He was later awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship for that race. Neil Horan, the priest who attacked de Lima, was defrocked by the Catholic Church the following year in January 2005. The other highlights of his career were wins at the Tokyo International Marathon and Hamburg Marathon, becoming the regional cross country champion in 1995, and winning the marathon at the Pan American Games twice consecutively in 1999 and 2003. He lit the Olympic cauldron and carried the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics. Professional career Attack at 2004 Summer Olympics On 29 August 2004, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, de Lima was attempting to become the first Brazilian to win an Olympic gold medal in the marathon. Soon after the 35 km (22 mi) mark, holding a lead of approximately 25–30 seconds, de Lima was halted and grappled by spectator Neil Horan, an Irish priest who was later defrocked. Horan had previously disrupted the 2003 Formula One British Grand Prix by running onto the Silverstone track. Greek spectator Polyvios Kossivas helped free de Lima from Horan's grasp and back into his running.4 De Lima lost about 15–20 seconds in the incident, but could well have lost much more due to the disruption, and he was passed by Italian Stefano Baldini (2:10.55) and American Meb Keflezighi (2:11.29) later at the 38 km (24 mi) mark. He finished third with a time of 2:12.11, winning the bronze medal. The Brazilian Athletics Confederation launched an appeal on behalf of de Lima with president Roberto Gesta de Melo claiming that "someone took him out of the race and we are asking for a gold medal for our athlete... solutions like that have been done in the past for other events." The appeal was rejected. At the closing of the event, the International Olympic Committee awarded de Lima the Pierre de Coubertin medal for the spirit of sportsmanship. The medal was officially presented to de Lima on 7 December in Rio de Janeiro, during a formal ceremony organized on a yearly basis by the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) during the Prêmio Brasil Olímpico ("Brazil Olympic Prize"). De Lima was also named Brazilian Athlete of the Year in 2004, receiving the trophy presented by the COB at the same time as the Pierre de Coubertin medal. De Lima's award was the first occasion in which the winner was selected by online popular vote. On 1 July 2005, Brazilian beach volleyball player Emanuel Rego, who won the gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games, tried to give his gold medal to de Lima on television, which de Lima returned. "I can't accept Emanuel's medal. I'm happy with mine, it's bronze but means gold", said de Lima. His biography was written by Renata Adrião D'Angelo, Vanderlei de Lima - A Maratona de uma Vida (A Marathon of Life), printed in Brazil by Casa da Palavra, in 2007. Achievements/Wins *Tokyo International Marathon (1st; 1996) *Hamburg Marathon (1st; 2004) Category:Men Category:Marathon Runners from Brazil